The Plumber

 The plumber came this morning at 10am, he worked until almost 2pm.

He took the pipes from under the sink out and cleaned them, but the blockage was further down.

He set up a very noisy machine to try and clean out the blockage from in the house and outside, he spent hours trying to get it cleaned out but couldn't do it 100%.  The water is draining better but still gets stopped if it's run too long.  He thinks that because this is an old house the pipes might be damaged somewhere and the only way to get it cleaned out properly would be to dig out the pipes and replace them.

This cost us just over 250 pounds! Money I was saving for the other house.

This has me wondering about the house we are moving to. They are both about the same age, built in the early 1990s. This house was built by a reliable company that has a good record. The house we are moving to was built by a local company that was subcontracted from the company that my mother-in-law hired. There have been problems at the other house since it was built, some of the roof tiles came off just a couple of years after it was built, and the tiles in the bathroom came up within 6 months of the house being finished.  The company put in older air conditioners, not the ones my mother-in-law had asked for, Hisao had to sort that out.  She had an expensive automatic front door put in but it broke after a few years. It feels as if nothing was built to last, just throw it up and hope for the best.  

I know we have no choice, we have to move there. I have no money to pull it down and rebuild it, which would be the best but I can't even afford to pay to have the name on the deed changed legally, which I would have to do to rebuild it. Just that would cost about 5000 pounds! 

I think I'll have to get somebody to come and check all the water and electric systems, but it won't be before we move in. Maybe sometime in the next year. The other house hasn't been really used, just 2 old ladies living there for the first 11 years, then just my mother-in-law until about 6 years ago.  I hope the house stands up to being really lived in.  One reason things break in the kitchen here is that it gets used every day. We cook 3 meals a day for 5 people.  

The cats were having a hard time. They kept sneaking to see what was happening but when the plumber turned the machines on they took off.

Not happy cats